1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio selective calling method and apparatus and, more particularly, to a radio selective calling apparatus having a protection function and erase function for message data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 2-24124 and 3-289823, in a radio selective calling method and apparatus of this type, when a user who has received message data determines that the message data is important, he/she performs key input operation for the message data to designate xe2x80x9cprotectionxe2x80x9d indicating that the message data is excluded from erase targets, thereby protecting it. In addition, while received message data is displayed, the message data is managed as unconfirmed message data until key input operation is performed. Message data other than the above protected message data and unconfirmed message data is regarded as an erasure-priority target. This message data as the erasure-priority target is erased by drop-out in a message data full state in which the memory is full of message data, or automatically erased when the power switch is turned on/off.
The radio selective calling apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 03-289823 has the function of erasing message data upon expiration of the valid period preset by the user (at the receiving end), which indicates the time interval during which the message data is not erased.
The radio selective calling apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 07-288856 has the function of storing received message data, together with time data sent by the caller, in the memory, and notifying the callee of the message data at the time indicated by the time data.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional radio selective calling apparatus. The conventional radio calling apparatus includes a receiving section 1, a decoding section 2, a control section 8, a notifying section 4, a storage section 5, a display section 3, and a key input section. The receiving section 1 receives a coded radio signal RS from a base station. The decoding section 2 receives the radio signal RS from the receiving section 1 and decodes it. When the selective call number for the self-apparatus is contained in the decoded radio signal RS, the decoding section 2 extracts message information including message data indicating a message from the radio signal RS and outputs the information. The control section 8 receives the message information from the decoding section 2 and causes a notifying section 4 to notify the reception of the message. The control section 8 then causes the storage section 5 to store the message data and causes the display section 3 to display it. The notifying section 4 notifies the reception of the message by using a buzzer, an LED, a vibrator, or the like. The storage section 5 stores the received message data. The display section 3 displays the message data.
The operation of the conventional radio selective calling apparatus in FIG. 1 will be described next. The message data sent from a base station is stored in the storage section 5 under the control of the control section 8. The user of this apparatus performs key input operation to make the display section 3 sequentially display the message data stored in the storage section 5 from the latest message, and checks the messages. The user then sets the protection function for a message with a high degree of importance and stores it in the storage section 5 by key input operation. This message, for which the protection function is set, is excluded from automatic erasure to be performed when the storage section 5 is full unless the user sets protection cancellation by key input operation. The message data designated by key input operation is erased. More specifically, of the message data stored in the storage section 5, the message data that are not protected are sequentially erased by drop-out from the oldest message data when the storage section 5 becomes full. The user can also erase all the stored message data by key input operation while checking them from the latest message data.
In the conventional radio selective calling apparatus described above, message data are basically managed on the reception order, and protection setting operation is performed for an important message in accordance with the judgement made by the user at the receiving end. For this reason, when the frequency of reception is high or the receiving apparatus is left unused for a long period of time and receiving operation is performed at a certain frequency, drop-out occurs due to the message full state of the storage section. As a result, the important message is erased without being read by the user. It is therefore hard to inform the user at the receiving end of an important message from the user at the transmitting end, i.e., the message provider.
Of the message data stored in the storage section, the unprotected message data are sequentially erased from the oldest message data when the storage section becomes full and drop-out occurs. Alternatively, the user performs key input operation to sequentially erase the message data from the latest message data while checking them. For this reason, even if the message provider (at the transmitting end) wants to cancel a message, or calls an apparatus with a wrong call number, the message provider cannot cancel the message. Therefore, a message transmission error at the transmitting end, i.e., the message provider, cannot be prevented.
In addition, of the message data stored in the storage section, the unprotected message data are sequentially erased from the oldest message data when the storage section becomes full and drop-out occurs. Alternatively, the user performs key input operation to sequentially erase the message data from the latest message data while checking them. For this reason, received message data is kept stored unless it is erased upon occurrence of drop-out or key input operation by the user. Depending on the frequency of use of this radio selective calling apparatus, therefore, old messages may be left in the storage section for a long period of time.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and its object is to provide a radio selective calling apparatus which allows an important message from a message provider at the transmitting end to be easily transmitted to the user at the receiving end, can prevent a message transmission error at the transmitting end, and avoids an old message from being kept in a storage section for a long period of time.
In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention has the following four main aspects.
According to the first main aspect, there is provided a radio selective calling apparatus comprising a control section for receiving message information containing message data indicating a message from a base station, and when a processing designation code for designating contents of processing for the message data is contained in the message information, performing processing designated by the processing designation code.
According to the second main aspect, there is provided a radio selective calling apparatus comprising a control section for receiving message information containing message data indicating a message from a base station, and when a processing designation code for designating contents of processing for the message data is contained in the message information, performing processing designated by the processing designation code, and when the processing designation code is not contained, notifying reception of the message, storing the message data, and displaying the message data.
According to the third main aspect, there is provided a radio selective calling apparatus comprising
a decoding section for decoding a coded radio signal sent from a base station, and when a selective call number of the apparatus is contained in the decoded radio signal, extracting message information containing message data indicating a message from the radio signal, and outputting the information; and
a control section for receiving the message information from the decoding section, and when a processing designation code for designating contents of processing for the message data is contained in the message information, performing processing designated by the processing designation code, and when the processing designation code is not contained, causing a notifying section to notify reception of the message, causing a storage section to store the message data, and causing a display section to display the message data.
According to the fourth main aspect, there is provided a radio selective calling apparatus comprising:
a receiving section for receiving a coded radio signal from a base station;
a decoding section for receiving the radio signal from the receiving section and decoding the radio signal, and when a selective call number of the apparatus is contained in the decoded radio signal, extracting message information containing message data indicating a message from the radio signal, and outputting the information;
a notifying section for notifying reception of the message;
a storage section for storing the message data;
a display section for displaying the message data; and
a control section for receiving the message information from the decoding section, and when a processing designation code for designating contents of processing for the message data is contained in the message information, performing processing designated by the processing designation code, and when the processing designation code is not contained, causing the notifying section to notify reception of the message, causing the storage section to store the message data, and causing the display section to display the message data.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention also has the following subsidiary aspects.
According to the first subsidiary aspect, when the processing designation code in each of the main aspects is a code for designating xe2x80x9cprotectionxe2x80x9d indicating that the message data is excluded from erase targets, protection designation data as data for designating protection is stored in correspondence with the message data.
According to the second subsidiary aspect, when the processing designation code in each of the main aspects is a code for designating xe2x80x9cprotection cancellationxe2x80x9d indicating that the message data is an erase target, it is checked whether the message data in the message information in which the processing designation code was contained is stored in advance, and protection designation data as data for designating protection which is stored in correspondence with the message data is erased if the message data is stored in advance.
According to the third subsidiary aspect, when the processing designation code in each of the main aspects is a code for designating xe2x80x9cerasurexe2x80x9d indicating that the message data is to be erased, it is checked whether the message data in the message information in which the processing designation code was contained is stored in advance, and the message data is erased if protection designation data as data for designating protection is not stored in correspondence with the message data.
According to the fourth subsidiary aspect, when the processing designation code in each of the main aspects is a code for designating xe2x80x9cvalid periodxe2x80x9d indicating a time interval during which the message data is not erased, valid period data indicating a valid period is stored in correspondence with the message data.
According to the fifth subsidiary aspect, the processing designation code in each of the main aspects may comprise a plurality of processing designation codes.
In addition, in the fourth subsidiary aspect, when data indicating a valid period is contained in the message information containing the processing designation code, the valid period data stored in correspondence with the message data is set as data indicating the valid period, and when data indicating the valid period is not contained in the message information, predetermined data is set as data indicating the valid period.
Furthermore, in the fourth subsidiary aspect, the apparatus can further include a message data valid period monitoring section for checking the stored valid period data at a predetermined timing, and erasing the message data stored in correspondence with the valid period data when the valid period indicated by the data has passed.
As is obvious from the above aspects, according to the radio selective calling apparatus, when the message information received from a base station and containing message data contains a processing designation code for designating the contents of processing for the message data, the control section performs the processing designated by the processing designation code. If this processing designation code is the code for designating xe2x80x9cprotectionxe2x80x9d, protection designation data is stored in the storage section in correspondence with the message data to set the message data as data that is excluded from erase targets. The message provider at the transmitting end can therefore transmit an important message upon designating xe2x80x9cprotectionxe2x80x9d for the message, thereby preventing this message data from being erased. This makes it easy to inform the user of the important message at the receiving end.
If this processing designation code is the code for designating xe2x80x9cerasurexe2x80x9d, it is checked whether the message data in the message information in which the processing designation code was contained is stored in advance. If protection designation data as data for designating protection is not stored in the storage section in correspondence with the message data, the message data is erased. With this operation, after the message provider at the transmitting end erroneously transmits message data, he/she can erase this message data by transmitting the message data upon adding the code for designating xe2x80x9cerasurexe2x80x9d to the message data.
If this processing designation code is the code for designating xe2x80x9cvalid periodxe2x80x9d, valid period data indicating the valid period is stored in the storage section in correspondence with the message data, and the message data valid period monitoring section erases message data upon expiration of the valid period. This can therefore prevent an old message from being left in the storage section for a long period of time.
As described above, information indicating message provider""s intention at the transmitting end can be received, countermeasures against transmission errors at the transmitting end and transfer of message information with a high degree of importance can be effectively performed. Memory management can be efficiently performed by storage management of the storage section based on valid period data. More specifically, the user at the transmitting end sends a message as a message to be protected in accordance with the degree of importance. In addition, when a message is erroneously transmitted, the message can be canceled. This allows reliable transmission of the contents of a message more reliably and can improve the reliability of information.
The present invention will become manifest to those skilled in the art upon making reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which preferred embodiments incorporating the principles of the present invention are shown by way of illustrative examples.